and Good Morning Vietnam

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Another week, another country. Arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam on Sunday night on a flight from Guangzhou. Back to independent travelling for the next two weeks which after 5 weeks of getting everything done for you takes a little getting used to. And noticed the difference immediately - the muppets at Hanoi Backpackers had given away my bed so had to go to the hotel next door. Still, had my own AC ensuite room, so couldn't complain. When I opened my bag though, noticed that my suncream had exploded over everything - not what I needed at that time of night.

Went out to explore Hanoi the next day - crazy city, makes Beijing look like a sedate backwater. There are motorbikes literally everywhere - blocking every path, millions speeding down the streets and guys trying to flog them every 10 metres I walked (as if any sane person would attempt to drive on these streets). Crossing the streets is potentally deadly, but a lot of fun. If anything it's even hotter in Vietnam than China, so I decided I needed to get out of the city asap and booked an overnight tour to Halong Bay.

Which is stunning - a 24hr boat trip around the bay and the 2000 karst islands (similar to Guilin and Thailand). The boat (junk) we had was fantastic - AC rooms and bar/restaurant. Lovely sea breeze as well most of the time and chilled out by exploring the caves (Hand Sung Sot) and swimming off the boat and on Dao Titop. Just like a scene from The Beach (aside from the mass of tourists on the other boats).

Spent one more day in Hanoi, but was too hot to do much touristy stuff. Did get a much needed haircut (including head massage for mere 175,000 dong!) and sampled some Vietnamese and "Asian" (ahem) food - excellent btw. Unsurprisingly (given the fact that we bumped into each other on the 6000km Great Wall), ran into Fin (Vodkatrain) and his mate (homie) in the Old Quarter on Monday night just before they were heading to Sapa - it's a small world for travellers. Off to Hue on the overnight tonight - it's a mere 37C there apparently - I'm almost envious of the cold and rain back home (but not quite).

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